Madagascar is rich in interesting and beautiful places, especially in the rural areas. Most of the people in these areas have only primary education. Their standard of living, is not allowing them to pursue higher education. Especially because of the distance between schools and their home and further challenges, such as financial constraints. Therefore, due to the lack of good education in terms of health, the care of their health is often not a priority for the Malagasy people.
Transfer of Knowledge
There are many actors and organizations including AiNA soa which are trying to inform and explain to the Malagasy people the importance of maintaining good health. Despite these efforts, many people still don’t know wthat to do in case of an accident or illness concerning a person in their community. Sometimes even the opposite of a treatment is done, as we heard in an example during a training with one of our partners. It is a partner we work with since several years, a company which employs many people, mainly farmers.
Within a first aid training with workers from this company which took place in a rural part from Antsirabe we asked the trainees how they would react in case of a burn. Most of them answered the opposite to what should be done. They said to spit on the lesion right away and to never add cold water, etc… This is a social perception rooted in the Malagasy culture.
It is the great responsibility of the AiNA soa team to spread our knowledge of first aid. We need to spread it to all those who need it – in cities as well as in countrysides. So that all Malagasy people can take care of their own health and know what to do in case of an accident or a common illness.
This is still a very long term vision and objective. Especially if we consider the number of AiNA soa staffs in relation to the surface of the island of Madagascar and the number of population. Despite many challenges we are not getting tired of spreading the first aid knowledge. We will keep on going: step by step and training after training.
NyOny
